Cite as: 528 U. S. 320 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
IV
Notwithstanding the fact that Bossier Parish I explicitly "le[ft] open for another day" the question whether § 5 extends to discriminatory but nonretrogressive intent, see 520 U. S., at 486, appellants contend that two of this Court's prior decisions have already reached the conclusion that it does. First, appellants note that, in Beer, this Court stated that "an ameliorative new legislative apportionment cannot violate § 5 unless the new apportionment itself so discriminates on the basis of race or color as to violate the Constitution." 425 U. S., at 141. Appellants contend that this suggests that, at least in some cases in which the covered jurisdiction acts with a discriminatory but nonretrogressive dilutive purpose, the covered jurisdiction should be denied preclearance because it is acting unconstitutionally.
We think that a most implausible interpretation. At the time Beer was decided, it had not been established that discriminatory purpose as well as discriminatory effect was necessary for a constitutional violation, compare White v. Regester, 412 U. S. 755, 765-766 (1973), with Washington v. Davis, 426 U. S. 229, 238-245 (1976). If the statement in Beer had meant what appellants suggest, it would either have been anticipating (without argument) that later holding, or else would have been gutting Beer's holding (since a showing of discriminatory but nonretrogressive effect would have been a constitutional violation and would, despite the holding of Beer, have sufficed to deny preclearance). A much more plausible explanation of the statement is that it referred to a constitutional violation other than vote dilu-Beer, see 425 U. S., at 136, and was argued in its brief before us as the basis for sustaining the District Court's denial, see Brief for United States in Beer v. United States, O. T. 1975, No. 73-1869, pp. 17-18. We rejected that position as to the effects prong, and there is even more reason to reject it in the present cases, whose outcomes depend as much upon the implication of one of our prior cases (as to which we owe the Department no deference) as upon a raw interpretation of the statute.
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